Iraqi troops shoot dead 5 protesters during clash

Protesters chant slogans against Iraq's Shiite-led government during a demonstration in Ramadi, 70 miles (115 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2013. Thousands of Iraqi Sunnis massed along a major western highway in a demonstration, intensifying pressure on the Shiite-led government. (AP Photo/ Khalid Mohammed)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi troops shot dead five protesters Friday as they opened fire at stone-hurling demonstrators angry at the troops for preventing them from joining an anti-government rally west of Baghdad, officials said.

According to police officials, the soldiers started shooting after a group of protesters on their way to a Sunni rally in Fallujah started throwing stones on an army checkpoint at the entrance to the city.

Along with the five killed, 23 protesters were also wounded in the shooting, said the officials. The demonstrators were angry at the troops for blocking their way and stopping them from reaching the rally in Fallujah, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad.

The rally is part of weekly Friday protests that erupted last month, sparked by the arrest of bodyguards assigned to Sunni Finance Minister Rafia al-Issawi.

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Drawn from Iraq’s Sunni minority, the demonstrators have been protesting what they see as unfair treatment by the Shiite-led government.

Medics in a Fallujah hospital confirmed Friday’s casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Police said that one army vehicle was set on fire by the protesters during the clashes in Fallujah. At the central rally, meanwhile, Sunni cleric Mohammed al-Dulaimi urged the protesters to show self-restrain and avoid further friction with the soldiers.

Al-Dulaimi, who led the Friday prayers, accused Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government of adopting policies that might lead eventually to the division of the country.

Fallujah lies in the heart of Iraq’s western Anbar province, which has so far been the centerpiece of the Sunni protests. The rallies were largely free from violence until Friday, though at least two demonstrators were wounded in December, when bodyguards and security forces protecting a senior Sunni politician opened fire to disperse angry crowds